The norhis peters



(No Model.) 'l s sheetssheet 1. vJ. E. BUCKLIN.

TOABACO DRESSING AND PEEDING MACHINE. v l\0.5311,259. Patented Dec.18,1894.

(No Model.) ssheenssneet 2.

' J. E. BUCKLIN. TOBAGO@ DRESSING lAND BEBDING MACHINE.

No. 531,259. Patented Dec. 18, 1894.

(No Model.) s sheets-sheet s.

JQE. BUGKLIN. TOBACCO'DRBSSING AND PEB'DING MACHINE.l No, 531,259.Patented Deou 18,1894.

(No Model.) 8 Sheets- Sheet 4.

, lJ.'I|3. BUCKLIN. 1 '1101311000 DRESSING AND PERDING MACHINE.

No. 531,259. Patented Deo. 18, 1894.

Tm: Norms mns no.. movou'mo.. wAsmNmon u c u 8 'Sheets-Sheet 5..

(No Model.) i J. E. BUCKLIN.

` TOBACCO DRESSING AND FBBDING-MAGHINB; N0.1531,Z59.

Patented Deo. 18, 1894'.

(NoModel.) v* i i SSheets-Sheet 6.

J. E. BUGKL-IN.

TOBAGGO DRESSING AND PEEDING MACHINE.

'NN0. 531,259; Patented Dem-18, 1894.

J. E. BUGKLlfN. '1301311000 YDRESSING AND PBEDING MACHINE.

No. 531,259.i l Patented Deo. 18,1894.

UNITED STATES JOHN E. BUOKLIN, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

vTOBACCO DRI-:sslN'o AND FEDING' MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters lPatent No.y 531,259, datedDecember 18, 1894.

Application nea september 16,1893, 'sens No. 485,708. aromas.)

. and I do hereby declare the following to be a central vertical sectionof the same.

is an enlarged vertical section of the central` Fig. 5 is an enlargedlocated therein.

full, clear, and exact description of the inven# tion, such as willenable others skilled in the art to which it appertains 'to make and usethe same.

My present invention relates to devices for automatically\presentingtobacco to the;cigV

arette forming devices of cigarette machines and consists in certainnovel constructions and combinations of parts forming an improvedtobacco dresser and feeder.

The best form in which I have contemplated embodying Vmy invention isshown in the accompanying drawings and the invention is fully disclosedin the following description and claims.

Referring to the said drawings, Figure lis a right side view of myimproved device. Fig.`

2 is a left side view of the'same. Fig. 3 isa Fig. 4

portion ofthe machine. view of the tobacco receiving hopper and itsadjunctive mechanism.'` Fig. 6 is atop plan view of the central portionof the machine. Fig. 7 is a vertical transverse section through thedelivery passage of the machine. Fig. 8 y

is a top planview of the tobacco receiving hopper and the tobaccoseparating devices Figs. 9 and 10 are enlarged vertical sectional viewsof the tobacco hoppershowing the separating devices. Fig. 11 is a detailsectional-view' of, said separating devices, and Fig. l12 is an enlargedview show ing the parts of said devices indetail.

Much difficulty is experienced in the mechanical feeding of tobacco incigarette and like machines as the tobacco is liable to be hunched andimpacted together causing clogging Of the feeding devices and imperfectand uneven feed and resulting in a loss by reason of imperfect articlesof the class manufactured.

The object of my invention Visto provide a machine for feeding tobaccothat will have little or no liability to clog and which will be able tofeed thetohacco in a layer of substantially uniform volume. To do this Iemploy a series ofk three groups of devices, one of whichI term theseparating devices and which is firstv to act on the tobacco. The next Idenominatethe feeding devices, which receive the tobacco from theseparating devices, and the third group I term the delivery devices andwhich condense the tobacco into a layer of the size and thicknessdesired and dis-- charge the same from the machine.

` The different groups of devices Will be par- ,Vticularly described inthe order in which they are here named.

A represents the frame work of the machine which is constructed so as toreceive and support the various parts of' the mechanism.

to force the tobacco depositedin the .hopper toward the front of thesame and into engagement with the separating devices.

In the front part of the hopper adjacent 'to the front end oftheconveyer b is a picker C 5 consisting in this instance of a rollerprovided .with straight or curved spikes or teethfor separating thetobacco as it passes from the conveyer b. This picker is rotated'in sucha manner that its teeth pass in an upward direcftionl when they engagethe tobacco and carry l.direction as the picker teeth but at a greaterspeed thereby brushing and cleaning all of ICO which is rigidly securedto a rock shaft d and is mounted in the sides of the hopper, and saidcomb is provided with teeth d whichlie between adjacent rows of thepicker teeth. The rock shaft cl is provided with an arm d2 outside thehopper and said arm is provided with adjusting devices consisting inthis instance of a link d3, see Fig. l, pivoted to the arm Pand havingaslot engaging a stationary pin on the side of the hopper which isprovided with a screw threaded adjusting nut, d4. By this means theposition of the comb D can be varied so as to allow the teeth of thepicker to project a greater or less amount beyond said comb and take upa greater or less amount of tobacco, as will be readily understood. Thecomb D also assists the picker teeth in separating the tobacco andpreventing the passage of bunches or masses of tobacco from the picker.

In order to prevent the tobacco from becoming packed at` the bottom ofthe hopper, as it otherwise would, I provide a stirrer B2 for agtatingthe tobacco in the hopper and holding the bulk of it back from theseparating devices, allowing only a comparatively small quantity to fallupon the conveyer b at a time, and I also provide a rake for positivelyfeeding the tobacco on the forward end of the conveyer b up to thepicker teeth. These devices are shown best in Figs. 5, 8, 9, l0, 11 andl2. The stirrer B2 is of the form of a multi-tined fork and consists ofa series of teeth on the lower end of a vertically disposed rod b2pivoted at its upper end to a horizontal link b3 which is pivoted at b4to a stationary part connected with the hopper. The vertical rod b2connected to the fork stirrer is provided intermediate its ends with aneccentric strap h5 which engages an eccentric b on a cross shaft B3mounted in bearings at the upper part of the hopper and operated toimparta backward raking movement to the stirrer B2. The teeth of thestirrer are inclined forward slightly so as to engage the tobaccoadjacent te the front end of the belt or cenveyer b and draw itbackward, allowing only a certain part of the tobacco to remain upon theconveyer and be carried to the picker.

Forward of the stirrerB2 is apair of guides or waysfpivoted to the sidesof the hopper atf and adapted to receive and guide the vertically movingfeeding rake F which is provided with a series of depending teeth, f2.See Figs. 5, 1l and l2.

To the feeding rake F is secured a pair of arms f3 which extend upwardand are con nected with eccentric straps ftengaging eccentrics f5 on thecross shaft B3 as shown. See particularly Figs. 5, 9 and IO. It willthus be seen that the eccentrics will impart to the rake F an upward anddownward movement in the gudesf and that the said guides will alsooscillate upon their pivots f thus imparting a forward feeding movementto the rake causing the points of its teeth to move in an ellipse, aswill be readily understood,

and enabling the rake teeth to positively feed the tobacco up to theteeth of the picker C. I also provide means for regulating the action ofthe feeding rake F and to this end I provide a plate F see Figs. 11 and12, which engages the rear face of the rake F and is connected theretoby a pin f6 engaging a slot f7 in the plate F', said pin having a headon the outside of said plate.

The lower end of the plate F is provided with a forwardly extendingflange f8 which carries a series of tubular guides fg and the teeth f2of the rake F extends through said tubular guides f 9 and the flange f8as clearly shown in Fig. 1l. The upper end of the plate F is providedwith an extensionf10 having an aperture therein which is engaged by arigid arm (Z5 secured tothe rock shaft d of the comb D and projectingrearwardly. It will thus bo seen, by reference to Fig. Il, that when therock shaft d is adjusted to vary the position of the comb D, the rigidarm d5 will cause an upward or downward movement of the plate F carryingthe tubular guides f and adjust said plate and guides with respect tothe rake F, thus exposing a greater or less amount of the rake teeth f2.The tubular guides f also assistin the clearing or stripping of theteeth f2 of the rake.

The feeding devices of the machine are as follows: Below the picker Cand clearing brush E is located an inclined board or chute e whichguides the tobacco dropping upon it from the picker, to a pair offeeding and macerating rolls G G which feed it forward to a beater I-Ilocated just in advance of the feed rolls. The beater II consists of aroller provided on its periphery with a series oli' projections or teeth71. which loosen n p the tobacco still more and feed it downward alongan inclined chute or slide 7i' supported from the sides of the machineframe. Adjacent to its lower end this chute or slide 7L' is slightlyconcave or trough shaped and above it is a pneumatic feeding cylinder orroller K which has its periphery provided at intervals alternately withtransverse brushes 7c and transverse fan blades k capable of producing acurrent of air, when the cylinder or roller is rapidly rotated, whichassists the forward feeding movement of the tobacco which has beenthoroughly loosened by the separating devices and the beater H.

I denominate the cylinder or roller K a pneumatic feeding roller as thetobacco passes between the roller and the bottom of the chute 7L and isfed forward positively by direct contact with the roller. At the sametime it creates a blast and assists the further forward movement of thetobacco after it has left the roller.

The beater II and the pneumatic feeding cylinder K are covered in by aportion A of the frame or casing which I prefer to make removable sothat the parts can be'readily inspected when desired.

Immediately in front of the lower end of TIO izr'

ber into'a stream or ribbon which passes out through the deliverypassage M.

Beneath the condensing chamber L is a large pulley Z, engaged by aconveyer belt m passing around said pulley through the lower part of thedelivery passage M around a pulley mx at the front end of the same andrearward over'suitable idle pulleys m 'm' to the pulley Z, one of saididle pulleys being preferably provided With a belt tightening device asindicated at fm2 provided with a Weight to maintain the desired tensionof the said belt. The belt m forms the bottomeof the condensing chamberL for a greater portion of its length,the lower wall of said chamberbeing cut away as indicated at Z for this purpose. At each end of thedelivery passage M above the same is a roller m3 carrying a horizontalconveyer belt m4 which passes along the upper part of the deliverypassage M above and at a uniform distance from the lower belt m. It willthus be seen that the tobacco after it has been condensed in thecondensing chamber L will be passed out through the delivery passage Mby the upper and lower conveying belts m4 m, the adjacent portions ofwhich will be caused to travel in the same direction and at the samerate of speed. From the delivery passage M the tobacco will pass in auniform compact sheet or ribbon to the cigarette forming devices of acigarette machine and it will be observed that while the greater portionof the air forced into the condensin g chamber will escape through theapertures in the top wall of said chamber, the influence of the currentof air will be felt throughout the length of the delivery passage andwill assist in the uniform delivery of the tobacco therefrom.

I prefer to provide the side walls of the delivery passage with glassplates M as indi- ,cated in the drawings so that the thickness andcompactness of the sheet or` stream of tobacco passing through the samemay be seen from the outside of the machine, thus` enabling the operatorto adjust the tobacco separating devices kso that they will furnish agreater or less amount of tobacco to the feeding and delivery devices ofthe machine.

Itis desirable to provide the upper feeding roll G with a tension deviceto h`old it yieldingly in close proximity to the lower roll and for thispurpose I prefer to employthe construction shown inthe drawings. SeeFigs. 1 and 3. A pair of levers g g is pivoted to the casing and engagethe bearing to the upper feed roll. Springs g are secured to the leversg g and to a stationary part of the frame in such a manner as to exert aconstant pressure upon the upper roll and upon any tobacco passingbetween the rollsG G.

N represents the driving shaft of the maf chine provided with a drivingpulley N to which power may be applie'd in any desired way. From thisdriving shaft N power is transmitted to the various working parts of thedevice in such a manner as to give each the required movement in thedesired direction. In the drawings I have illustrated the /operativeconnections of the various parts with the driving shaft and I haveindicated the direction of rotation of the various parts by arrows.

The operation of the device is `as follows:

The tobacco to be treated is deposited inthe hopper-B and falls upon theendless conveyer 'b located in the bottom thereof. The stirrer l52 willconstantly operate to draw back the tobacco from the forward end of thehopper and allow only a small portion of it to remain upon the belt bywhich it is carried forward 1 into engagement with the feeding rake Fwhich 'positively feeds it up to theipicker C. The teeth of the pickerCreceive the tobacco from the conveyer b and carry it through the teethof the comb D up and over the picker to the clearing brush E whichbrushes it from the teeth of the picker and deposits it in a loose andlightened condition upon the inclined chute e which conveys it tothefeeding rolls G G. The group of devices which act upon the tobacco untilit passes from the clearingY brush E I term the tobacco separatingdevices The tobacco next passes to the group of devices which I term thefeeding devices. Passing through the feeding and mac- IOO erating rollsG G itis delivered t0 the beater v the inclined chute hto the pneumaticfeed' ing rollK bywhich it is'delivered with a volume of air to the nextgroup of devices which I term the delivery devices. Fromthe pneumaticfeeding roller K the tobacco is delivered to the condensing chamber 'Lwhere it is gradually compressed and condensed by the expulsion of theair through the series of apertures in the upper walls of the chamberand by the tapering form of said condensing chamberand it is thencarried by the conveyer belts fm mtthrough the delivery passage M.

As before stated the tobacco separating devices can'be adjusted in sucha manner that the picker will take up a greater orles's amount oftobacco in a given time and in this way the stream or ribbon of tobaccomay be delivered in a more or less thick and compact condition.

What-I claim, and desire to secure by Let` ters Patent, is-

1.. The hereiny described tobacco dresser and feeder, comprising amongits members a-pneumatic feeding roller, substantially as described.V

2. The herein described combination with devices for separating andlightening the tobacco of a pneumatic feeding roller, substantially asdescribed.

3. The herein described tobacco separating devices comprising a movablerake, and a stirrer cooperating therewith to divide olf a part of thetobacco and move it forward.

4. In a tobacco dresser,a hopper provided with tobacco feeding devicesconsisting of a movable rake for moving a portion of the tobacco towardthe delivery side of the hopper and a fork stirrer cooperatingtherewith, substantially as described.

5. The combination with the pneumatic feeding roller, of the condensingchamber and the delivery passage, substantially as described.

6. The combination with thepneumatic feeding roller, of the deliverypassage and condensing chamber one of the walls of the two latterdevices being provided with an air outlet, substantially as described.

7. The combination with devices for separating and lightening thetobacco, of the pneumatic feeding roller, the delivery passage andcondensing chamber, substantially as described.

8. A tobacco dresser provided with tobacco separating devices, a picker,a conveyor and a feeding rake movable upon and longitudinally of theconveyer, substantially as described.

S). In a tobacco dressing and feeding mechanism, the combination with ahopper, of an endless conveyer located at the bottom thereof, a feedingrake having a downward movement upon the conveyer, a forward movementupon said con veyer and then a backward and upward movement, andastirrer cooperating with said rake to separate the tobacco in thehopper, and actuating devices substantially as described.

10. In a tobacco dressing and feeding device the combination with ahopper, of an endless conveyor in the bottom of the same and tobaccoseparating devices consisting of a rake moving toward the delivery sideof the hopper and a stirrer moving in the opposite direction,andactuating devices substantially as described.

11. A tobacco dresser provided with tobacco separating devicesconsisting of the picker, the movable feeding rake for feeding thetobacco toward said picker and the stirrer for forcing portions of thetobacco away from said picker and the endless carrier for conveyingtobacco from said stirrer to the picker, substantially as described.

12. In a tobacco dresser the combination with the pneumatic feedingroller, of the condensing chamber having tapering walls and an airoutlet other than the discharge passage, substantially as described.

13. In a tobacco dresser the combination with the pneumatic feedingroller, of the condensing chamber provided with tapering walls, one ofsaid walls being perforated to allow the escape of air, substantially asdescribed.

14. In a tobacco dresser the combination with the pneumatic feedingroller, of the condensing chamber provided with tapering walls, adeliverypassage communicating with said condensing chamber and aconveyor forming a portion of the walls of the condensing chamber anddelivery passage, substantially as described.

15. In a tobacco dresser the combination with the picker, of theadjustable comb, and the conveyer, the feeding rake movable upon andlongitudinally of said conveyer and adjusting devices for said rake,substantially as described.

16. In a tobacco dresser the combination with the picker, of the comband the feeding rake, adjusting devices for said comb and adjustingmechanism for said rake connected with said comb adjusting mechanism,substantially as described.

17. In a tobacco dresser the combination with the hopper, of theconveyer, the pivoted guides, and the rake moving in said guides, andthe adjustable plate provided with a stripper flange, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN E. BUCKLIN.

Witnesses:

E. P. BURKET, GEO. A. SMALL.

